Ben Golliver
Sports writer
37
MENTIONS
11
EPISODES
7
PODCASTS
Search complete. 37 mentions across 11 episodes found for "Ben Golliver".
Sep 18, 2026
Brian WindhorstHOST
Please.
Bobby MarksPANELIST
Ben Golliver, Zach Kram, and Dean Oliver.
Bobby MarksPANELIST
It rhymes.
Brian WindhorstHOST
Right.
Ethan SkolnickHOST
All right, and then here's this one, and I'll finish.
Ethan SkolnickHOST
This is from Ben Golliver.
Ethan SkolnickHOST
Bold prediction for '27 to '29.
Ethan SkolnickHOST
Antetokounmpo will unseat Dwyane Wade for the Heat's single-season scoring record.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Gets a little credit there.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
But, uh, I'm sorry, this is, uh, Ben Golliver wrote this, not Zach Kram, this part of it.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Um, bold prediction for nine- uh, 27 through 29.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Even without James, Doncic will lead the most efficient offense in Lakers history.
Matt PeckHOST
Um, but the, the part about the market being interesting and Caleb Wilson being the reason for that potentially changing.
Matt PeckHOST
Because, I mean, Swayze is not wrong to say, "Hey, big market." Bobby Marks pointing out, "Bulls, top five market in the NBA." Uh, you know, I think it was Ben Golliver who did the b- uh, bold prediction for the Bulls, and his bold prediction, which I might say not so bold, in my opinion-
Big DaveHOST
Okay
Matt PeckHOST
...
Ben BeeckenHOST
They've obviously changed the way it works over the years a little bit.
Ben BeeckenHOST
This year it was a, a four-person panel, uh, Ben Golliver, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, and Dean Oliver, who rated all 30 teams one to 30 in five different categories.
Ben BeeckenHOST
And then apparently there was like a, I guess they rated them on a scale from, um, from I guess one to 100, and then, uh, they included the ranking compared to other teams.
Ben BeeckenHOST
So like for instance, OKC has a score of 93 for players, but they're ranked first.
9 MINS LATER
Ben BeeckenHOST
ESPN's future power rankings, again, bonkers.
Ben BeeckenHOST
Minnesota ranked 16th.
Ben BeeckenHOST
The bold prediction by Ben Golliver, I'll just read it to you.
Ben BeeckenHOST
It says, "Yoan Berenger will win a Most Improved Player award by 2030," which if you're scoring at home, that's actually...
Mike TrudellHOST
And it was so good that we don't have to go to more.
Mike TrudellHOST
We're gonna take a break here, and then Ben Golliver, back from a rare vacation.
Chris McGeeHOST
Hang out, Walrus.
Mike TrudellHOST
Yep, he is back.
Mike TrudellHOST
He's Jeter, I'm Trudell, Lakers Talk.
Mike TrudellHOST
Well, it's a telling intro for our next guest, who is probably best known as an NBA expert and analyst, a senior writer for us here at ESPN nationally.
Mike TrudellHOST
His name is Ben Golliver.
Chris McGeeHOST
But around his neighborhood, he's known for Gelato.
Chris McGeeHOST
We appreciate our job, and we will talk Lakers.
Chris McGeeHOST
We have Michael Thompson coming on, right? Ben Golliver coming on.
Mike TrudellHOST
Yes, two of our greatest.
Chris McGeeHOST
The people are asking about, you know, "When are we getting Trevor back on, Jovan?" And I was explaining, "We're gonna have them all on a lot during the season," because you and I are gonna keep this train moving.
56 MINS LATER
Chris McGeeHOST
Bringin' it.
Mike TrudellHOST
Michael Thompson.
Mike TrudellHOST
All right, we're gonna take a call or two coming back, and then we'll get to another one of our favorite guests, Ben Golliver, in the second hour of our show here.
Mike TrudellHOST
He's Jeter.
J.E. SkeetsHOST
Oh, baby.
J.E. SkeetsHOST
How many points did you guys put up there?
Trey KirbyHOST
59.
J.E. SkeetsHOST
Oh, nearly nice.
J.E. SkeetsHOST
But everything else that Tas mentioned or we asked about, it's there, so go check that out.
J.E. SkeetsHOST
Uh, it's a lot of fun just to-
Tas MelasHOST
Oh, yeah, you guys are arguing-
J.E. SkeetsHOST
... see what's playing
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
They have less flexibility now, and it's hard to say with confidence that they're any closer to title contention.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Uh, this from Ben Golliver, uh, another great writer.
JDADVERTISER
Yes.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Uh, the Lakers got se- you know, who, what do they learn about the, the Lakers? Because the, the Lakers got serious about building around Luka Dončić.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
Now these to me are two different ways of looking at the off-season for the Lakers.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
The first one focuses sort of in absolute terms, are they better or worse than they were last year? Are they closer to a title or further away from a title? Um, and that's a totally legitimate way of looking at it.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
But Ben Golliver, whether, I'm not sure if this is exactly what he was thinking, kind of touches on what I think was actually the objective of the off-season, which was to start to reshape the roster in a way that legitimately is built with some sense of continuity around Luka.
Brian KamenetzkyHOST
I don't think the goal was to get to be, you know, to become a championship caliber team.
Mike TrudellHOST
Thank you for doing that.
Mike TrudellHOST
Uh, coming up next, our great friend Ben Golliver, uh, covers the entire league for the worldwide leader, senior writer at ESPN, and we got plenty of stuff to talk about with him, including one team in the West that I think probably a lot of people had just above the Lakers-
Chris McGeeHOST
Mm
Mike TrudellHOST
... heading into the season that I think they should now have just below the Lakers.
Mike TrudellHOST
Beaverton, Portland.
Michael FunchesPANELIST
Okay, yeah, I know someone in Portland, but no, I don't know, I don't, I don't know anyone with a 503.
Mike TrudellHOST
Well, the Oracle of Oregon, Ben Golliver, is joining us now.
Mike TrudellHOST
Stick that 503 number, Funchi, in your-
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